Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
I've ridden modern mtbs and older mtbs and have fairly balanced view of their value both ways. Not a gap but rather a well rounded perspective. I see where some excel over others and where others do well enough, depending on the circumstance. What I haven't done is throw the baby out with the bathwater and declare a whole generation of bikes to be junk.
So these modern bikes you have ridden...Do you have one in your possession now that you ride a couple days a week or were they just parking lot tests or 1/4 mile out and back trail tests on a friends bike? I still feel "you don't know, what you don't know"
In 10 or 20 years the new great bikes you like so much will be also be considered junk to those who think as you do.
That's quite possible, but I think they've dialed things in with geometry pretty darn good right now for the different types of riding...XC, Trail or Downhill. Any changes moving forward for the next few years will be subtle and not like what's happened in the past 10+ years.
https://www.qbp.com/call_up/mountain-bike-evolution
https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/11-mo...ges-of-decade/
https://enduro-mtb.com/en/revolution...sixteen-years/
Sadly, you will never be able to say today's best was "good enough" because that sort of thinking leaves you open to criticism for not appreciating what could be better; always measuring one against the other like it's a contest with only one possible winner.
No not really. Just being pragmatic.
Did you ever consider, depending on the trails, that a good older bike and a good modern bike could both be ok? I'm curious because that's the position I keep suggesting. Not that one is "better" than the other.
There also comes a time when upgrading or spending money on that good older bike no longer becomes worth the hassle due to cost vs. worth, or parts availability etc.
Actually it was "what's so good about a Yeti"? and people responded with a lot of feedback. But the question was mostly used as a rhetorical device to again put down older bikes. It's a predictable pattern in almost every older bike thread.
Actually it was "What sets this Yeti apart from other bikes in that era?"
Other than some well known people associated with the bike, nobody really gave me a good answer about what made the bike itself stand out from similar bikes of the same era.